The favorite New Year’s drinks are traditionally sparkling wines and champagnes.
Sparkling wine bubbles are preserved better if the drink is cold. Adobe Stock / AOP
The change of the year is traditionally celebrated with sparkling wine or champagne. Their sales quadruple in a few days from the normal autumn and early winter level.
Between Christmas and New Year, more than 200,000 liters of sparkling wine and about 15,000 liters of champagne are sold in four days, while the level of a normal autumn week is about 60,000 liters of sparkling wine and about 5,000 liters of champagne.
This is Alko’s product communication manager Anri Lindström’s five tips for sparkling wine:
1. Pay attention to the bottle size
Sparkling wine is available in several different bottle sizes. A traditional 0.75 liter bottle serves 6–7 glasses of sparkling wine. The 1.5-liter magnum is enough for a larger party, and it’s an impressive size on the party table.
If you spend the New Year alone or as a couple, you can choose a half bottle or a 0.2-liter piccolo bottle.
2. Cool sparkling wine keeps its bubbles
A bottle of sparkling wine can contain up to 50 million bubbles. The bubbles last longer in a well-chilled bottle. Sparkling wine should be put in the refrigerator well in advance and stored opened in a wine cooler or similar waterproof container with ice cubes and water. A bottle of sparkling wine that needs a quick cooling can be immersed in a container containing water and ice cubes, into which plenty of salt has been poured. The bottle cools down to be ready to serve in about ten minutes.
3. Open the hood correctly
Thanks to the bubbles, there is plenty of pressure in the sparkling wine. A champagne bottle can have up to three times the pressure compared to a car tire.
The bottle should be opened carefully. Wipe the bottle dry with a kitchen towel and peel off the foil from the mouth of the bottle. Keep your thumb firmly on the cap and unscrew the metal cage that protects the cap. You can carefully remove the protective cage if you want, as long as you put your thumb back on the cap. Take a firm grip on the bottom of the bottle with your other hand and direct the mouth of the bottle away from you and your guests. Hold the cap and start rotating the bottle slowly from the bottom. Use your other hand to brake the pressure-opening cap until you hear a gentle hiss and the cap has come off. Sparkling wine is ready to serve!
Between Christmas and New Year, the sales of sparkling wine and champagne quadruple compared to the rest of the winter sales. Inka Soveri
4. Don’t forget non-alcoholic
There is plenty to choose from in the selection of non-alcoholic sparkling wines.
They are available in different styles, sweetness levels and bottles. It is good for the party organizer to be prepared with a non-alcoholic option when serving sparkling wine.
5. Glass matters
Sparkling wine is traditionally served from a narrow-mouthed stemmed glass. In addition to this glass, called the flute model, there are wide-mouthed and stemmed sparkling wine glasses available, which bring out the aromatic world of sparkling wine more beautifully.
More valuable sparkling wines such as champagne should be served in rounder glasses, where their multidimensional world of aromas can come into their own. You can also use a white wine glass as a glass.